Eviledd1984
BrokenPromise
Red Wizard
Alby47
Phase
FetzenRueyn aka The Reaper
@Srslyanartist
Kanata aka The Storm
@ZephyrHope
Ameliya aka Inferna
@Perse
Julia aka The Black Death
@Silver Carrot
Kanata laid awake for hours, unable to sleep like usual. Looking at Ameliya in his arms, a smile crossed his face. It had been a long time since he had something to look forward to. His smile soon faded into a look of unease. Looking out to the stars he stared. His heart wrapped into a shroud of despair as lingering thoughts of the past entered his mind. Quickly catching his breath he sat up letting Ameliya lie against the ground.
'Another sleepless night, when was the last time I slept?' He had hoped being with Ameliya would calm his soul and it had but only for the fleeting moment knowing that it was only one night and she could be gone in an instant. Getting himself up he walked across to the now open window letting out a heavy breath. With a flick of his wrist, a cig and lighter flew into his hands. Inhaling a large puff of smoke and holding it in his lungs until it slowly dissolved into nothingness.
"Soon I'll return home," his eyes turned bright blue in the moonlight as his expression turned from pained to rage-filled.
Opening up her eyes blearily, Ameliya woke up feeling cold against the ground and after a moment she also started to register that she was now alone. The warmth she had fallen asleep to had shifted and left sometime during the night. Unintentionally, a small sad crying sound came from deep within her chest as she started to tell herself that she knew this was exactly what was going to happen. She had no idea why she had stupidly hoped things were going to be different this time.
A sudden cry broke the silence, turning Kanata's head at full speed towards it. 'Did that sound come from Ameliya?' Closing his eyes he listened to the sounds that echoed through the room focusing on her heartbeat. Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump. She was awake and upset. A smile spread across Kanata's lips as he sauntered back over to her side tossing the cigarette butt out the window. Laying back down next to her he wrapped his arm around her waist. Leaning forward he kissed her forehead and said "I'm not going anywhere. Goodnight."
Blinking in confusion as Kanata returned to her side, Ameliya stared at him, her exhausted mind trying to understand. His warmth was so comforting though that she curled into him, deciding none of it mattered as her heavy eyes closed.
Julia made her way out of the en-suite she’d tried to sleep in, fully showered and dressed in the punky clothes she’d commandeered the day before, in a moderately good mood after being denied all but a sink for the past several months. Still, she hadn’t gotten much sleep, which wasn’t unusual for her. What was off was despite the lingering pain of her injuries, and….sounds, she hadn’t been woken up by a nightmare last night. She considered that a victory.
She stopped in her tracks, smelling smoke, and rushed to the staff room. The sheer carnage she saw as she turned her head to survey the scene caused her to stand there absolutely aghast, squeezing at fistfuls of her own hair. After coming to her senses, she shook her head and exhaled.
“I need some breakfast…” she muttered, turning and immediately heading back to the hallway. When she reached the bar, empty this early, she ordered some bacon, eggs, and black coffee.
Sunny was the one behind the bar when Julia sat down and the blonde took one look at Julia’s face and guessed she’d seen something that had shocked the other woman pretty good, given the way she had ordered with a weirded-out tone in her voice.
“Sure thing, Julia, sugar,” Sunny drawled. “Danika makes the best bacon and eggs you’ve probably tasted in a while.” The waitress poured Julia a large cup of black coffee from a round-bellied coffee pot as she spoke before writing down the order on a notepad and lightly jogging halfway down the bar to the small slit in the wall that was the kitchen’s order window, slipping the piece of paper through before coming back to Julia with the same light jog.
“Can I get you anything else? I know it’s early but you look like you just saw something that warrants a shot in your coffee if you ask me.”
“No, thank you,” Julia answered, shaking her head. “I don’t drink during the day….I think. I can’t actually remember what my habits were anymore; when my life was normal…” she trailed off, taking a sip of coffee. Something she’d acquired last night before heading to bed was a pair of leather fingerless gloves, which she was currently wearing. They weren’t total protection but they were better than nothing. They also suited her, but between them and the punky borrowed clothes, her lack of makeup and nail polish were eye-catching in their absence.
“I respect that,” Sunny replied. “And I can’t quite relate to that exactly, but I know what it’s like to not remember your life from before something big occurred. For me, it’s becoming what I am now, a Vampire. I don’t remember much of my life as a human but what I do remember is kinda shitty.” She added the last part with a laugh and a smile, indicating she was over it, and she was happy with her life as it was now.
“Good Morning,” a raspy voice manifested from behind Sunny moments before the redheaded owner of it manifested with a puff of black smoky mist as well, looking tired but somehow refreshed. “Why the hell do I smell smoke?” Rueyn’s tired but relaxed expression quickly changed to one of alarm and she turned on her heel to blur towards the smell.
Rue opened the staff room door and was immediately pissed off at what she saw.
“YOU FUCKING BURNED MY BUILDING??” Rue entered the bedroom where she saw that there no longer existed a bed or a bedframe. One which had been rather expensive to put in there, by the way. “DO you KNOW how FUCKING EXPENSIVE that fucking BED WAS? How EXPENSIVE this is GOING TO BE? YOU OWE ME, FATHER. YOU FUCKING OWE ME.”
Rue was decidedly Pissed. Off. This was her territory, her only truly safe place, and her father and the closest thing she had to a best friend from prison decided that in their literal fuckery that they were gonna be careless and burn it. Not okay with her, not at all. Somebody had better pay reparations or blood would be spilled.
Coming out of the en suite door, Ameliya stood there in the doorway with soaking wet hair and a towel around her as she looked towards the raging demon. Putting a hand to her thumping head and leaning against the door frame, Ameliya watched the other woman. She understood exactly what Rue was saying, she just wish she would say it a little quieter. “I’ll pay for the damages,” She groaned out, “just can you take it down a bit? My head is still killing me.”
“You know, I have ONE rule here: DO NO HARM, and that INCLUDES HARMING THE FUCKING BUILDING!” she growled, throwing her hands up. “Find some goddamn clothes in the fucking armoire, if it’s not burnt to cinders, too, and meet me at the bar, I’m making you fucking breakfast, you undisciplined fucking heathens.”
Kanata stared at Rue for a few seconds then sighed heavily. He stood up and asked, “Do you have a phone?”
“I don’t care who fucking pays for the damages,” she replied tersely but lowered her voice. “So long as it gets fixed. This building is my safe place and I dislike that it has been damaged in such a manner. No, I don’t have a phone, at the moment, the one I had is likely way out of date by now but I will have a new cell phone by the end of today. Why? What does having a cellphone have to do with it besides contacting me?”
Scratching the back of his neck and yawning, Kanata walked to the window and quickly threw it open. He looked back at Rue and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” Sliding his legs over the windowsill, he jumped out to the outside.
Ameliya watched Kanata leave and just stared at him leaving out through the window. Turning back to Rue, she sighed and shook her head at the idiocy she had just seen. “I am sorry for the damages,” She said tiredly, and then with a playful smile, she gestured to the window, “I was obviously not thinking straight.”
Rue stared after him for a moment in disbelief, then turned to her friend when she spoke, and her mood softened when she heard her words and saw her playful smile, giving her one of her own.
“It’ll be alright,” the demoness replied, rubbing the length of one of her S-curved red horns. “It’s just, I have owned this place for almost sixty years and have yet to have someone damage it to this extent so it kind of shocked me. The most it ever got damaged before was the front doors got busted off the one time some metahuman fight ended up tossing a body through them. And eh, you’ll learn control, eventually, once you start learning discipline from Kanata.”
She walked over to the armoire that was thankfully unscathed and opened it, motioning the other woman over.
“Here, there should be some more of those literally magical-one-size-fits-all kinds of clothing in here,” she said. “I keep them stocked here for my staff and anyone who comes through needing a change. Once you’re dressed we can go back to the bar and I’ll make you breakfast.”
Kanata returned back into the room through the window. His torso had splashes of blood dripping down and his arms were coated to the elbow in it with a large bag hanging over his shoulder.
Smiling thankfully at Rue, Ameliya started to rifle through the closet in hopes to find something more her fashion inside. Though before she found anything that she liked the look of, her attention was quickly taken back to the still open window. Eyes trailing over his naked body with newly splattered blood on it, her breath caught in her throat. No! Quickly looking back towards the clothes she berated herself, what the hell was she thinking. She already had her fun, she needed to stop looking and start getting ready to leave town.
“That was a nice warm-up. Here is the payment for the damages. It won't happen again,” throwing the bag down the top opened revealing a few million in cash. Turning to Ameliya he winked and said, “Last night was explosive but next time let's try and keep the fire to a minimum." Then returning his gaze to Rue, “I heard breakfast being made mind if I help?" Putting his hands on his waist and bending backward then forwards he said, “But first got anything that I can wear?”
Rue simply pointed to the armoire and said, “Look in there. Magic, one-size-fits-all clothing. Meet me at the bar.” She sighed, gave Ameliya a smile, and walked out, shutting the door hard behind her. Outside the door, she shook her head, pinched the bridge of her nose and headed back to the bar where the others were.
Julia took another sip of her coffee as Rue returned to the bar. “I was shocked too, when I saw it. In that prison, they kept our powers in check so we couldn’t escape. I think we’ve all forgotten how to be careful.” Julia stared at her own gloved hands. “I need to go shopping at some point. Get better gloves that cover my fingers too, get more clothes than what I’m currently borrowing. I also think I should radically alter my hair so I don’t match my wanted posters.”
Kanata ears twitched as he heard the conversation down below from julia. Ignoring the clothes that was pointed out to him he walked forward throwing open the door to the bar. Ignoring the stares and looks from the patrons he approached Julia with his arms crossed. “First lesson of your training starts now,” he said in a loud commanding voice that echoed through the room. Not giving her time to react he reached out and grabbed Julia by the belt lifting her up as the wind started to pick up and he flew up to back into the room. Seeing Ameliya and realizing how he looked as she stared at him. He came up with a brilliant idea.Rushing next to her and grabbing her with his new healied arm,he tossed her over his shoulder before flying out of the window to a nearby rooftop before dropping her to the ground.
“First things first take off those stupid gloves” he said as he landed in front of Julia. Then gently he set Ameliya on her feet “And your here to see im not doing anything weird.”
Julia looked around, disoriented. They were now on the roof. She looked back at them. Ameliya was still wrapped in a towel. Kanata was completely naked. Julia immediately turned away and tried to look anywhere else. “You could at least have put some pants on!” she protested, as she then started taking off the gloves with her back turned. When they were both removed and discarded, she looked back. “Why am I taking my gloves off anyway?”
Kanata put his hands on his hips, his face bearing a serious expression, ”You gonna touch me without the gloves on.”
Absolutely dumbfounded at finding herself on top of a building with just a towel wrapped around her, Ameliya’s body started to shimmer with heat as she turned to glare at Kanata. “What the fuck do you think you are doing?” She snapped at him, as her body instantly lit up into her magma form.
Kanata’s jaw dropped as soon as her form lit of up flames. Every Time he saw it it was a sight to behold. Putting his hands up, Kanata tried to plead his case. “I’m sorry but time isn’t on our side. We don't know who or what might be after us. Right now she is scared to use her powers and I don't know about you but we don’t have the luxury of slowly getting her used to it.” With a deep and heavy breath, Kanata rubbed in between his eyes as the lack of sleep and worry began to bother him. “A trial by fire, if you will, and I need you here to burn the poison out of me in case my own abilities can’t defend against hers.”
The change in Julia was immediate. Her eyes were manic. Her breathing had turned to gasps, and she’d started pacing on the spot. Her speech had quietened to quick muttering. “You’re crazy. No, No, it’ll kill you. I can’t…”
“And none of this could have waited until I was dressed and fed?” Ameliya growled out, as she crossed her arms across her chest. At the moment she was kind of hoping she would get to burn him, “Hurry it up.”
With a small chuckle he commented, “You look good in that form by the way” he then turned to the problem at hand. Seeing her lost in her own little world, Kanata walked up to Julia and grabbed her by the shoulders, staring straight into her eyes. With a calm but serious voice, Kanata said, “Julia, do you want to die? Because I don’t think you do, and I don’t want another kid dying on my watch to burden my mind for the rest of my eternal life." He slowly brought his hands down to her wrists, bringing them inches from his chest.
“These aren't a curse” a sad expression washed over face as his mind remembered flashes of past events. “I know what it means to be truly cursed, and what you have is a gift, an opportunity. Use these to keep yourself alive because the world is coming and it won't stop just because you want them too. You can’t control it now, but I promise on my late wife's grave I will teach you to be able to control it.” Standing to the side, Ameliya did not say anything but she stood there watching and listening. Ears especially perking up at the mentions of eternal life and his late wife.
“A…gift?” Julia slowly repeated, her face twisting into one of anguish. “Fine. I’ll show you. If you think there’s any way to control this, any way to make this a gift, be my guest!” She planted her hands on his chest, only for a fraction of a second, and took them away. The smallest ‘dose’ she could give. She wrestled free of his grip and backed away as the black poison visibly spread its way through his body from the two points of contact.
Looking at the two black points, he shifted his hands over them. “Hmm, it seems you need to do a stronger dose to hurt me. It kinda tickles." Grabbing her hand, he thrust it on his chest while saying. “Stop holding back, stop wasting my time and hit me with everything you have!”
“Stop! You don’t know what you’re doing!” She yelled, as she struggled and pulled and desperately tried to get out of his grip and break contact. With a fresh, ever-flowing supply of the poison it was a completely different beast. His regeneration couldn’t keep it from spreading, and visible black veins were growing from his chest to all over his body. After a mere ten seconds of prolonged exposure, it was clear that if she held on much longer, he was going to die.
“Fuck,” Ameliya muttered out as she came over to Kanata’s side and lay her flaming hands on exactly where Julia had just rested hers. She had no idea if this was going to work, but she really hoped it would considering this would be one of the stupidest ways to die. Frowning with concentration, she sent out her flames on to Kanata’s bare skin and made it follow the raised black veins in a vain attempt to help correct the situation.
Slowly, the black veins began to recede until fully being removed from his system. With a loud gasp, Kanata lurched forward, his breathing heavy and hoarse. Putting his hand on his waist he leaned back bursting out in laughter. Regaining control over his demeanor, he coughed into his hand and with a smile looked at Julia saying, “What a rush! You almost killed a man who has survived the planet for over 400 years. Be proud.” Putting his hand on her shoulder he said, “now we know we can handle it if it goes too far so we can train you to control it without hesitation.”
“Control it? CONTROL IT?! You almost killed yourself by holding my wrist in place, you stupid bastard!” Scream julia, face twisted in fury. “ There’s no way to turn it off! It’s not some kind of faucet! You called this a gift?! I touched you the way I did at first because that’s all it’s taken to kill anyone I even brush against by accident! Even if I was fully pardoned and got my old job back, I can’t live normally like this! I can “control” it by wearing gloves and never touching people! That’s how I ‘control’ it!” Her voice was shaky and sobbing, but her eyes were dry, as if she was crying without tears.
Glaring down at Kanata as he laughed so carefreely, Ameliya punched him in the shoulder. Of course the man she had shown the slightest interest in, had to also have a fucking death wish. “You’re going to give her a heart attack,” She growled at him, trying to completely ignore the fact that he almost gave her one too. Looking back at Julia, her chest ached for her. She knew all too well what it was like when your touch did nothing but destroy everything and hurt everyone.
Putting her head to one side as she thought back to the poison that had just run through Kanata’s veins before she then walked over to Julia. “Touch me,” She simply suggested as she held out a hand that was no longer lit with flames. If her theory was correct, her fire would kill it off before it ever became a problem.
Julia was naturally hesitant, but then glanced at Kanata, and back to Ameliya. Her powers had managed to completely remove the poison of ten seconds of prolonged exposure, from the outside. Naturally, there’s no reason she wouldn’t be absolutely fine. Still, Julia’s hand was shaking as she reached out and stopped right before making contact. She took a deep breath, and touched Ameliya’s hand, only for a second, but already the poison started to spread. Julia recoiled and shook her own hand. She’d probably need to run it under cold water soon.
As the poison started to spread across her hand, the feeling of blistering and burning pain that had been so absent from Ameliya's life started to creep up her hand. Hastily taking her hand back, it quickly recovered its magma look. Her heart beat started to fasten at the foreign pain but she grit her teeth and just watched. Staring down at the blackened veins, she watched in fascination as her own veins brightly lit up and began to fight off the poison. The way her veins clearly showed through her magma skin tended to only be something that happened to her during extreme stress. Though, as she watched the black retreat across as her hands, she guessed this would be considered one of those times. Watching as the poison was finally backed to where it started, before finally disappearing entirely, Ameliya looked back at Julia with a grin. "Spicy," she joked as she shook the still tingling feeling out of her hand.
Kanata walked up to Ameliya and placed a hand on her burning shoulder. "Glad you're okay, though I was hoping to suck some of the poison out," he said with a wink and a mischievous smirk. Ameliya just raised an eyebrow at him. Turning to Julia he bent down to get to look her straight in the eyes. "I know you're scared, your world has changed and none of it is your fault. Everyone blames you and wants you dead. But take solace in the fact that you have people who will help you." Getting up he walked up to Ameliya and leaned in to kiss her. "That’s my thanks to you. Now who’s up for some training?”
Already ready to get back to the bar and get some semblance of breakfast, Ameliya was taken by surprise by the kiss. Blinking back her confusion, her firey skin started to cool down and fizzle out. Leaving her standing there on top of the building flustered and naked.
Julia was comforted seeing Ameliya neutralize her poison and play it off without taking it lightly, and she smiled. The smile only grew with Kanata’s true words of comfort. She did have somewhere she belonged now, and with it, goals and plans to move towards. The smile broke when Kanata mentioned training. “Right now? Can it at least wait until after breakfast?” she protested.
"And some clothes," Ameliya interjected
"Fine, we can eat breakfast first." With a chuckle he turned around and asked "So do you both want to fly back or walk?"
Julia looked around as she scooped up her gloves and began putting them back on. “What building even is this? Can we just enter it through the roof without getting the cops called on us? I’d say we probably need to be flown back.”
"It's either that or I walk back naked," Ameliya pointed out.
Laughing out loud and looking up and down Ameliya's body he walked forward grabbing her by the waist and pulling her close and lifting her leg. "Hold on to me" he said before turning his head to Julia to tell her "Mind if I take you back one at a time? not sure I can control myself at the moment with her."
Breath instantly getting caught in her throat, Ameliya couldn’t help how her body reacted while so close to his. Looking at him with a questioning but playfully raised eyebrow, she draped her arms over his shoulders.
As her arms wrapped around him Kanata felt her naked body against his. With a strong growl he looked at Ameliya with a smirk saying to Julia behind him "Yeah I'll be back" before flying to a nearby building rooftop.
Julia could tell they wouldn’t be back within the minute. She looked from the rooftop, to the roof’s door, wondering whether she should wait, or whether she should risk it. Her stomach growled. That made up her mind, and she tried the door. It was locked. Course it was. She returned to the center of the roof and sat down, cross-legged and grumpy.
It didn’t take her that long to get bored of sulking and she got up and looked around. She’d never been to the US before. She hadn’t even been outside for months. She stared from this rooftop and took in the landscape around her. Every house here was home to a different ordinary family. Every shop was a place she could go to and buy things. She realized that she used to take freedom for granted, because now it was a difficult concept for her to wrap her head around anymore.
About thirty minutes later Kanata returned to Julia still naked but with hand prints and thigh-sized marks where the blood was before. Coughing and clearing his throat, Kanata looked at Julia who had a disgruntled look on her face "Sorry about that we caught fire on a building that spread to the neighboring ones. Then I tried to put out the fire by taking away its oxygen. But we were still doing it and we hit the climax so instead, it exploded." Pointing about six blocks away, Kanata said "See the smoke? That was us. Damn, do we fuck well together. Sparks just fly when we enter a room. I blame her though she is way too hot for her own good."
Julia had still been staring out over the town by the time they both got back and turned to Kanata as she listened to him brag. There was a numbness to the way she stared at him disapprovingly. Any flames of passionate anger had burned out. Now she was tired, very annoyed, and wanted breakfast.
Putting his hand to his chin and raising an eyebrow, Kanata continued "I wonder how she will handle my yokai form. Man, do you think sparks fly now just wait till then. I can see it now. A massive storm of fire burning bright you could see it from space, a flaming hurricane if you would. Might want to go to Australia for that though I heard they got burnt out a while back. It might be time for a second go." Turning back to see Julia’s expression, Kanata smiled awkwardly before grabbing her by the waist and flying back to the sanctuary. Kanata soon appeared in the window. He exited , dropping Julia onto her feet before walking to the crate of clothes.
When they were back at the bar, Julia went straight to the counter and sat down. Her coffee was naturally stone-cold but she still took a large sip, before turning to Rue. “Sorry about that. Where were we?”
Rue raised a pierced eyebrow, having simply gone to the bar and waited for everyone to come back from wherever it was that they had decided to fuck off to without telling her. Not that they had to tell her, but she figured her father would have given her some sort of indication considering his reaction upon finding her again, but oh, well then.
“Where did you even go?” she asked. “Before you left, I do believe you were about to eat breakfast, which, we kept warm for you, by the way.” She set down a plate that had a metal covering on it in front of Julia and removed the covering to reveal a steaming plate of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and two pieces of toast, which Julia began devouring without another word.
“You said bacon and eggs only, but Danika said that’s not enough breakfast for someone who’s been through hell and had bullets taken out.”
Heading over to the bar, Ameliya was dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a dark red wine button-up that was a little too open to be considered professional anymore. Sitting down on one of the stools with a sly smile spread across her face, as one who knew something humorous others didn’t, she turned to Rue and asked, “Do you have any tea?”
“Aye,” Rue replied, turning to look at her and take in her appearance with another raised eyebrow. “What kind? Nice to see you finally dressed and showed up after your… extracurricular activities, let’s just say that.” She added the last bit with a small laugh, her sensitive nose could smell the sex and fire smoke on the other woman to whom she gave a sly wink.
“I would love some black tea,” Ameliya replied with a warm smile that turned slightly coy as she watched Rue’s wink. “Had to say some proper goodbyes to your dear old father before heading back to my place,” she cheekily commented, before then looking back at the other demon and adding, “You think you could give a girl a lift with your whole shadow portal thing you got going on?”
“Black tea it is,” the demon turned around to face the shelves on the walls and pulled down a box of teabags as well as a ceramic mug the size of a regular drinking glass. “As for the shadow travel,” she turned back around to give Ameliya a level look. “I can only get as close as I’ve been before, as I don’t know where your apartment is. It’s not an exact science unless I’ve traveled there by other means before.”
She opened the tea bag and placed it into the mug before her form blurred for a moment as she ran at inhuman speed from the bar to the kitchen and back for a pot of hot water, pouring it into the mug over the teabag and serving it to Ameliya. She grabbed a sugar shaker and a spoon from the counter behind the bar as well and placed them next to the mug of now steeping tea.
“Your black tea, my friend.”
Overhearing the conversation from the room away, his heart sank. Forcing a smile onto his face he walked out and next to Ameliya and Rue, sitting himself down at the bar.
"Didn't know you were planning to leave,” he put his hand into his pocket, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, then took one out to light it up. "Are you planning to come back or is this the last we will see of you?" He tilted his head at her in question, his smile fading into a saddened expression. "If you go into fire form I can get you to your place in about 40 minutes if I go at full speed. It would be a lot faster than shadow traveling to a nearby place with an unknown distance between. Besides, I have something I need to check on at my place nearby."
Cradling the hot mug in her hands, Ameliya stared down at the darkening water as the tea steeped. After all the fun she had been having with the group, she didn’t particularly want to just leave them all without a word either but, there was still the issue that screamed at her in the back of her mind.
“It would be best to get as far away as possible before the supes come looking,” she said while focusing on her drink, before looking back up, “I’m not going back to that hell hole.”
As she looked back at Kanata with his cigarette already ready in his mouth, a smirk started to cross her face as his smoke instantly lit up. “Of course, you already know where I live,” Ameliya teased him.
"I make it a point to keep tabs on dangerously hot women who try to take my heart," with a wink he slid from the chair and started to stretch. "I was thinking we could all head to Japan. Not a lot of supes there and since it's out of the country. they will have an extremely hard time being allowed in to search for us. I pretty much run japan after all. So is that a yes or no for the ride?"
“It looks like moving apartments didn’t work,” Ameliya jokingly commented as she remembered how she had quickly packed up and moved when she had woken up to the sight of a whiskey bottle mysteriously turning up on her doorstep with a note from a certain someone.
Taking a deep drink of her tea, Ameliya thought about it for a moment before deciding that moving to Japan for the interim would work well. She normally wouldn’t so easily agree to group with others, but she looked at Julia then Rue, before finally landing on Kanata. Her chest clenched slightly, and all she could agree on was that things weren’t so simple anymore. Yet she tried to push off her questioning of emotions and replied to his question with a smirking smile, “I’ll take that ride. Though…,” She eyed him for a moment before adding, “I actually do also need to get some stuff from my apartment.”
“Shadow travel is a lot more efficient than you seem to remember, father,” Rue replied tersely, offended that her own father seemingly forgot how her own abilities worked despite having helped her hone them for twenty years of her life. “If your apartment is close to someplace I’ve been before then it should be easy enough to travel from shadow to shadow until we are close enough for me to shadow travel us inside the actual building. But in the end, it’s up to you, my friend. I’m the very last fucking person to impose on anyone’s free fucking will.”
Grumpily, she turned around and walked down to where an alien-looking customer waved her down, seemingly at ease in the role of the bartender as she took their drink order. Rue knew that anyone who walked past the doors to Sanctuary might spread the word that she was there, but after the last failed raid (one in which an entire team of supers had been sent to the best hospital’s intensive care unit), no one would dare try to attack the building just to take her in.
Julia had been watching this conversation and had breathed a sigh of relief, before smiling at both Ameliya and Kanata. “You know, one of my biggest fears when I was in that prison, stewing inside my own head, was that a life with a purpose, goals, and most importantly, a social life, was off the cards for me now. Grabbing Rue on an impulse is looking to be one of the best things I have ever done. I can’t state how relieved I am that you’re coming with us to Japan, Ameliya.”
Turning to look at the younger woman with a look of surprise for a moment, Ameliya’s facial features then softened as she smiled warmly at her. She hadn’t thought Julia would have cared if she was around or not. Actually, she hadn’t thought any of them would have really cared about that in the morning and she found herself pleasantly surprised that she was wrong. The warm feeling in her chest was new and unexpected but also pleasant. Having taken note of Rue’s frustration, Ameliya decided maybe some ‘father-daughter’ time would be good for her. “So I don’t have magic one size fits all clothing,” Ameliya started while looking at Julia, “but you’re more than welcome to grab some things from my closet. That is, if you would want to join us heading back to pack.”
Julia nodded, looking down at her own clothes. “That would be appreciated, thank you. These are all I have, and I don’t even technically own these. Might also need to borrow some toiletries unless we have time to stop at a shop somewhere.”
Kanata let out a loud heavy sigh before flicking his cigarette into an ashtray and snuffing it. Cracking his neck he turned to Rue, "Since all of us seem to want to go we can go using your shadow travel. On the way back though, we will have an extra companion. I hope nobody minds but I'd like to bring her home to Japan."
Having come back as soon as the alien customer had been served their drink, Rue heard Kanata’s words and raised an eyebrow but that was her only reaction other than to say, “Sounds like a plan to me. I say we leave as soon as possible. The supers won’t dare come here, not after the last time thirty years ago but it’s still best to go, soon.”
Her?! Ameliya instantly gave Kanata a side-eye glower, as she instantly started to question exactly who was this mysterious other woman. She had just started to slightly lower her guard around him and what is now when she finds out he was already taken?
Sensing a danger, Kanata’s instincts shifted his view to stare at Ameliya. Instantly realizing what he just said and what the look she was giving him meant he blurted out as he stood up in a panic, "I'M TALKING ABOUT MY PANTHER CUB, ABSOL." Looking around and coughing into his hand to regain his composure he continued "I found her when a hunter killed her mother so I took her in right before going to jail. I promised she would see Japan." After taking a deep breath and looking at Ameliya with a serious expression, "The woman I like is you."
Looking at him in surprise, Ameliya couldn’t help but chuckle at his sudden outburst. A panther cub, huh? She would love to see a panther in real life. Just thinking of those round ears and padded paws were too cute of an image for her not to be interested. As the mood changed to serious, her attention was brought back to what Kanata was saying only to hear him say he liked her. Wide-eyed, she stared at him as her cheeks burned bright red and her hair once again became a waterfall of fire. Embers coming off her from her, she quickly turned towards Julia, “Wha - what type of clothes do you like to wear?”
With a small chuckle, Kanata walked over running a finger over Ameliya's shoulder and then to the stairs.
"I'll be upstairs waiting for you if you still want that ride." With a wink, he walked off out of sight. Julia watched him go, then looked back to Ameliya, and smirked a little.
“I had quite a pedestrian style before, but this look,” she gestured to the borrowed large punk band tee, black skirt, ripped tights and fingerless gloves she was wearing, “…is kinda growing on me. You know, I wonder if I have time to get my hair cut. I think I really should look different from my wanted posters while I still speak the language of the hairdressers. You and Kanata…don’t mind waiting for me, do you?” she gave Ameliya a wink, before turning to Rue. “Do you know the nearest salon from here?”
“Right across the street from us is a salon called Cian’s Cuts,” Rue replied. “The owner Cian is a Vampire who’s got serious skill with a pair of hair scissors and a wit sharper than her fangs. I’ll go with you and you’ll get the best haircut you’ve ever had in your life, trust me. She fixed my hair this one time after some drunk jackass decided to try and light me on fire.”
“That will be perfect, thank you. That way, they won’t care if they recognise me, either. I promise I’ll pay you back for this.” Julia replied as she followed Rue out of the bar.
Watching Julia wink, Ameliya blushed slightly and got up from her seat as she heard Rue and Julia start talking about going to the hairdresser across the street. She looked at the other two thankful for a moment before she started to stride up the staircase to the loft. At the top of the stairs, she rose an eyebrow at Kanata with a teasing smile playing on her lips and asked, “In the middle of the bar?”
Kanata walked up to Ameliya as she entered the room slamming the door with his hand and putting her in a position she couldn’t escape from. "Right here, right now, do you like me? Because I'm head over heels for you."
Staring up at him with wide eyes, Ameliya went bright red as flames started to lick off her skin. She had not been expecting this ambush at all, she had been expecting a little bit of fun and games before taking a trip to a new country. Now she was face to face with the man professing his feelings.
“I … don’t hate you,” Ameliya commented as she looked away from him and tried to shift out of being cornered by him.
Slamming his other arm into the wall he towered above her.
"I like the fun we're having but I also want to be more than just a fling." Leaning into her resting his lips against her ear to whisper "I am quite smitten with you. The way you walk, the way you talk and carry yourself. The fiery temper that sends sparks into the air. I find you quite the catch, but I'm not one to hold out on a one sided relationship. So I ask again, do you like me?"
As she felt the cool breeze of his whisper, and his words started to make their way into her chest. Ameliya’s heart caught in her throat, and a shock of flames ran throughout her body.
“Fuck,” Ameliya quickly swore as he caught herself. Backing up, she quickly brought her flames back into her and looked worriedely at the wall for any scorched marks. Luckily for her it seemed like her flames had only stayed with her this time. “Look at what you nearly made me do,” She said, frustrated at Kanata.
Snuffing out the flames, Kanata started an unwavering gaze into her eyes, "Your flames betray your attempt to hide your feelings. Call me old fashioned though I want you to say it. I need you to say it or I'll walk."
Embarrassed at another failure to control her emotions and flames, Ameliya looked away. Though as he gave her an ultimatum, she quickly looked back at him shocked.
"I - ," her eyes seemed to focus on anywhere else but his intense gaze, "I - I like the way you touch me. I like the way you fight. I like your fucking stupid jokes." Looking back at him, her eyes searched his face for some kind of reaction as she anxiously said, “I - I like you, ok?"
A massive grin sprouted on Kanata's face as he heard the words. Leaning in with a kiss he met her lips. After a few moments he separated a joyful aura radiated from him. As he separated from her. With an exasperated sigh of relief he chuckled back at her saying, "Guess we’re a couple now." With a wink he turned opening the door and grabbing her hand before descending back to the group.